1. Field of the Invention
A device to control organic, breathable odors, in general, and a device to be worn on the face of the wearer to reduce breathable odors below human sensory perception, in particular.
2. Prior Art
People afflicted with cancer, chronic urinary or fecal incontinence, non-healing wounds and other necrotic disease processes often express foul odors which are related directly to their physical condition.
Health care professionals attending to or treating such patients are typically faced with the unpleasant task of performing their duties in an environment where patient generated odors range from disagreeable to nauseating. Air fresheners, room sprays and deodorants do not provide either rapid or complete odor control when used to counteract these types of organic odors. More importantly, air sprayers may adversely affect a debilitated or a respiratory compromised patient and, therefore, they must be applied with extreme caution.
Face masks are known in the art. However, the known masks are generally utilized to reduce the inhalation or exhalation of airborne germs, bacteria and the like. These masks are, generally, intended merely as particulate filters.
Chemical odor traps, e.g. molecular sieves, are also known in the art. These odor traps are, generally, applied in powder form to the odor producing area to absorb the gas-borne odor. Even when these odor traps are utilized, a certain amount of odor is released into the ambient before the traps take effect.